Home Away from Home

The taxi stopped at the guardhouse. "10 Dove St.", we answered when the security person asked. Smiling, we waited while the driver took us a few right and left turns until the final halt in front of the door of a subdivision home.

It's funny how intrusive I felt opening the door of an unfamiliar house. However, as soon as we went in, the mood changed. It was in fact indeed a tiny restaurant with tables, chairs, and diners happily chomping. There were just about 5 tables fit in a small area that is barely comfortable for 30 people. At a tiny corner, almost pushed to the wall, is a bar for a crew of two:  a butler (older guy) who sometimes wait on tables wearing what looked like the modern short-sleeved barong and a full-time waiter who always looked busy as if the butler's eyes are on him all the time.

Soon enough, the man in-charge came to us with a notepad and a pen. At P220 I had to complete the task of choosing my seemingly 4-course meal starting with the soup, salad, sandwich and then a cake for dessert. I ordered my first onion soup, shrimp salad, a hamburger and a slice of their chiffon cake.

 

15 minutes and the onion soup was served. I hardly had the strength to pick my spoon up as I imagined how awful onions must taste being the only main ingredient in a stew. Yet, I did. How could I not? It looked meaty with a slice of cheese on top. I dug my spoon to find croutons instead of meat. Surprised, yet, I went one spoonful to another. And still another. Now onion stew wasn't at all that bad.

 

As if the waiter knew I was almost finished, he served the shrimp salad. It was an elbow macaroni salad topped with a leaf or two of lettuce and mixed with skinless shrimps. At first, the shrimp didn't fit the mix, however, the more I chewed one after another in spoonfuls of macaroni, I realized it was delectable and healthy. I could eat a serving more.

Third of the entrees is a hamburger. The bun looked plumped and fresh. My appetite was really yearning for it the moment I smelled mayonnaise, cucumber and grilled meat patty. I am keenly familiar to the odor since I used to making my own at home too. The burger was dry at the exterior. You need to sink your teeth into the freshly cooked patty to savor the burnt meat juice and smokey flavor. I also compensated the lack of mayonnaise with catsup for its sour-sweet taste and tobasco for that lingering hot and spicy sensation.

Finally, the dessert. The butler mentioned three flavors and ''MANGO YOGHURT" said we, in unison.

It was a full lunch and the neighborhood of Sto. Nino Subdivision was quiet and mindless of sojourners who had to walk lazily to the highway because their pockets are empty and can hardly pay for another taxi ride.

Home is where doves come back to even after distances of travel. No wonder people find 10 Dove St a place to return to in Cebu.

10 Dove Street
Santo Niño Village,Banilad,
6000 Cebu City, Philippines
Contact No: (032) 346 0618
Website: https://www.facebook.com/ten.dove.street


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Corregidor: A Walk Through the Ruins

At P500 a night, The Lodge accommodation already provides a full bed for two regular-sized adults, an extra bed, and own bathroom. One needs not be very picky to survive a bathroom that only has a curtain for a door. The place has no canteen but it has a little pantry, such that, if you need to drink hot coffee and make payments early at dawn, you just have to wake the attendants to get all that done.

As soon as everyone has packed, we hailed a trike for P40 to get us to the Cabcaben Pier. We were told that the earliest time boats are available is 5am. We got there at 5:30am and were told to wait for the owner of the boat so we can make the necessary negotiations for the price. While waiting, we watched the gradual appearing of sunrise until its full encompassing glare. Just somewhere in one of the junctions of the street stretching from the baywalk, we got excited by the smell of hot arroz caldo. We bought and ate their local produce for breakfast to store enough energy for the anticipated journey to the historic Corregidor Island.

Here are the prices of my energy boosters:
 Arroz Caldo (rice congee) - P20
 Puto (rice cake) - P10
 Malagkit - P6
 Biko - P6

Take-out snacks: Mr. Chips (P20) and Mineral Water (P15).

CABCOR (Cabcaben-Corregidor Motorboat Association) is a cooperative for the seafarers whose motorboats are rented and hired for a trip to and fro Corregidor and Bataan. They are responsible of regulating the standard rental fees of the said motorboats. In as much as we would have wanted our route to proceed from Corregidor to Manila, we were unable to insist since the trips going to Manila are monopolized by Sun Cruises. We sealed Bataan-Corregidor-Bataan negotiation at P3000 for 1 motorboat.

After being at sea for over an hour, we docked at the port of Corregidor. From afar, one could already sense the quietness and almost deadening silence that only the splashing waves seem to break. We may have been the earliest tourists that day.

An entrance fee of P150 per person is collected inside the ticketing office. The hourly rate for the jeepney transport cost us P800 which already covers the major spots in the entire island. More than the boat ride, the jeepney experience was both arduous and fun. My only problem then was the limited time we were given per stop. Because we hired it only for an hour, the driver was very stringent in terms of time compliance that it kind of pissed me off. There were so many great places in the island to take pictures of but 5-minute stops are hardly enough to get creative juices to work. Nonetheless, I decided to shake the frustrations off by moving fast, covering as far as I can get myself with the 5-minute allowance and shooting trigger-happily.

Our last stop was near the back part of the Mile-long Barracks. We entered the museum to get a glimpse of the islands history and gain understanding of the reasons behind the war that happened a long time ago which left 900 dead and 1,200 wounded from the Japanese troop and 800 dead and 1,000 wounded from the US and Filipino defenders. (1) Although the Japanese have seiged Corregidor, the effort put in by both our local troop and American allies have definitely delayed their scheduled attack to other nations like Australia.

These preservation of remains and ruins of the past has allowed us a peek to the struggles our descendants had to go through to win freedom for all. They have not ceased to assert their ownership of the Philippines even if it cost them their last breath. They are the unnamed and unsung heroes who knew that our God -given justice, Filipino identity, and freedom are worth fighting for. 

Corregidor, to this day, stands a witness of the bloodshed that once was. I would be dishonest if I say that the visit did not bring chills and there was nothing creepy about it. In fact, the horror and scare continued even on my way back from Bataan to Manila. One female soldier at her late twenties sat beside me on the bus and testified that she had friends who came back haunted by the ghosts of Corregidor. She said a few had to overcome nightmares in the evening and ghost apparitions after their visit. To me, it was more of the sad recollection of deaths and killings that pulled me down.

In reflection, greed and haughtiness always have its own repercussions. Amplifying them by personal nurture can bring forth death both on the guilty and the innocents. Live content.

Further readings:
(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corregidor 

How broke was I?

It started here:

Where to Stay in Angeles
Where to Eat in Angeles
Korean Bakery
Pampanga's Ikabud
A Beautiful Aftermath
Treetop Hopping and Dropping
Where Humans are Strangers
Befriending Bataan
The Splendor of the Shrine of Valor
The Past Today

Captivating Cordova

Our company’s community of photographer wannabes headed out to Cordova, a municipality located in the 6th district of Cebu, to give our cameras a run for the so-called street photography. We had no idea what to expect in the place but we went, anyway. From Cebu City, we decided to ride via jeepney to Mandaue, then to Opon, and finally, Cordova. Expectation-wise, I envisioned a place crowded with people and busy streets. Instead, we were greeted by few pedal trike drivers and the smell of grilled pork barbecue at a nearby food shop. At the jeepney drop, we caught sight of a Sweet Corn for Sale sign and headed to the vendor to inquire. Apparently, they just started cooking, so some of us bought bread from Julies’ approximately 6 meters across the street.  As soon as everyone began filling their stomachs, we started walking.

First stop: the Freedom Plaza. When you are a stranger in a new place, you would likely find capitols, museums and plazas the popular landmarks and immediate representations of the community and its history. We decided to take a picture of the Freedom monument which proved witness to the heroism of two Cordova locals, Juan Nuñez and Pablo Biongcog, who lost their lives during the Japanese occupation. We were busy having our pictures taken when we realized that the structure held the word “FREEDOM” with the last letter inverted, showing “FREEDOW”, instead. It must have been removed through time and put back in place the wrong way. Sometimes, we unconsciously present the irony in our messages. In this case, looking around the old capitol (designed with touches of Spanish and American style)  and the inverted “M” makes me skeptic if  the municipality indeed fully freed itself from the bondage of its past under non-Filipino regimes. To note, “CORDOBA”, a merging of 3 balangays (Gab-I, Day-as, and Pilipul), was decreed independent from Opon in 1863.

Right across the plaza, we paused to take a picture of San Roque Parish Church, and side-tripped on what hoped to be our overt attempt to sports photography when we chanced upon tennis players whiling away time at the court beside the church. Further onwards, we caught sight of an old, rustic gasoline station (a non-operating Petron station), kids playing on the streets, men drinking on their pedal trikes under the bright 8AM-sunshine, and a lounging grand dad bonding with his grandchild.

Some other shots were taken at the parola, which stood beside a supposed hotel. Both (parola and hotel) were unfinished structures which have instead become a popular photography subject in the town. Right at the place where both stand, we noticed families and friends on a picnic beside the shore. Even casual acquaintance frolic the beach area for a good time. A stranger approached one of my confreres to ask if we brought a lighter and a foil. Although he didn’t get any from us, he still voluntarily shared information about how he and his friend ended up on the beach with a girl they met from a public disco who insisted to go with them wherever they went. I think we all silently agreed not to meddle with their public lives. Besides they all appear to be enjoying the chance to bask under the sunlight together with other happy locals.

The simplicity of life in Cordova reminds me of my hometown and the genuine, carefree laughs I shared with friends whether by the beach or just along the streets. It is a challenge for me and others who succumb to complications and harassed by city noise to have intentional pauses, just appreciating and reflecting the plain and ordinary things that mean more in life: family, friends, and a quiet, peaceful soul. However, to maintain these treasures, the town has to also be able to live up to the standards of a healthy society where the families are taught and ushered to ways and means of surviving modernization and overcoming crises. I trust that their local government officials are constantly executing well-thought-of plans for the upliftment of the lives of the locals from whose taxes its operating expenses are sourced from. Albeit slow, the town's progress is promising.

Last stop: Lantaw Floating Restaurant. The team headed out to Day-as mangrove plantation known by the Traffic enforcer we met at the junction as the famed "bird sanctuary". Most of the common trike drivers had no knowledge of such reference but will take you there if you tell them to drive you to the "bacau-an" (pronounced bakhawan). When we arrived, there were no birds in sight except for the common ones we see all the time. However, what seemed to be disappointing turned out to be a special treat. The arduous journey brought us to rewarding Lantaw, a floating native restaurant. It was only on its 5th day since it started operating in Day-as, Cordova when we arrived and their delicious food offerings were ravishing treats for the excited palate.

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Further readings:
- Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordova,_Cebu
- Intercebu.com - http://www.intercebu.com/cpc-portal/casquejo/Poblacion%20Cordova/page2.html


Lantaw Restaurant
Contact Information:
Manager: Allen N. Malubay
Globe #: 09176680464
SUN #: 09332704731
http://www.facebook.com/LantawFloatingNativeRestaurant

The Vote

This blog is not for the sole and mere purpose of campaigning but primarily to key my thoughts about the coming May 10 elections. I took time to research about criteria for choosing the best leader but I am oftentimes led to nonetheless second-hand, biased suggestions. To be honest, I have made up my mind. It has been quite a struggle deciding especially because competence-wise, more than two candidates bear outstanding qualifications. I admit to have not done sufficient research about the candidate I am voting for but I feel guiltless and shameless now, more than ever, to declare that I am for Eddie Villanueva.



I am a Christian and you can presume that anything I write from this point onward can be partial and would certainly advocate Christian leadership. At some point, you are right, but I prefer to term my stand the advocacy on “Applied Christian Leadership” – one where Christianity has become one’s lifestyle. It does not infer perfection on the individual but more on established relationship and the conscientiousness of his action. In other words, I am in favor of voting for one who is a “doer” more than the “label-bearer” although both are essentially understood to have journeyed the road of acceptance and confession of Jesus, as Lord and Saviour - they mainly differ in the score of maturity.